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1. Sanitary sewer overflows, household sewage backups, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria: the new frontier of environmental health risks and disasters

   https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ad8d05  

   Hendricks, Marccus D; Rosenberg_Goldstein, Rachel E (November 2024, Environmental Research: Health)

   Abstract Untreated sewage discharges leading to environmental contamination are increasingly common in communities across the globe. The cause of these discharges ranges from sewer lines in disrepair, blockages, and in the era of more extreme wet weather events, the infiltration of stormwater into the system during heavy downpours. Regardless of the driver of these events, the aftermath results in raw sewage spilling into local waterways, city streets, and commercial and residential structures. Historical research in public health has thoroughly documented the connection between exposure to untreated sewage and waterborne disease. Recent research has detected antibiotic-resistant bacteria at wastewater treatment facilities at a time when deaths by antibiotic-resistant infections are on the rise. However, no research has explored the exposure pathways of antibiotic-resistant bacteria during sanitary sewer overflows and household-level sewage backups. In this commentary, we aim to introduce this new frontier of environmental health risks and disasters. To do this, we describe the history of modern sanitation and sewer infrastructure with a particular focus on wastewater infrastructure in the U.S. We also explore emerging risks and current methods for identifying antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. We end with future directions for interdisciplinary scholarship at the nexus of urban planning, engineering, and public health by introducing the Water Emergency Team (WET) Project. WET is a community-based multi-method effort to identify environmental risks in the aftermath of household backups through (1) residential surveys, (2) indoor visual inspections, (3) environmental sampling, and (4) laboratory processing and reporting. Our hope is that by introducing this comprehensive approach to environmental risks analysis, other scholars will join us in this effort and ultimately towards addressing this grand challenge of our time. 

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2. Health impacts of water and sanitation insecurity in the Global North: a scoping literature review for U.S. colonias on the Mexico border

   https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2022.085  

   Zheng, Madeleine; Wutich, Amber; Brewis, Alexandra; Kavouras, Stavros (September 2022, Journal of Water and Health)

   Abstract U.S. border colonias are peri-urban settlements along the U.S.–Mexico border. Residents often face substandard housing, inadequate septic and sewer systems, and unsafe or inadequate household water. As of 2015, an estimated 30% of over 5 million U.S. colonia residents lacked access to clean drinking water, suggesting health complications. This scoping review identifies a very limited existing set of research on water and sanitation insecurity in U.S.–Mexico border colonias, and suggests value in additional focused research in this specific context to address health challenges. Preliminary health data indicates that due to water insecurity, colonia residents are more likely to contract gastrointestinal diseases, be exposed to carcinogenic compounds from contaminated water, and experience psychosocial distress. These widespread health issues in colonias are exacerbated by historical and ongoing socioenvironmental injustices in the U.S.–Mexico border region and their relation to the poor health outcomes. 

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3. Household water insecurity experiences and their perceived determinants in a low-income community of Cartagena, Colombia, during a water service expansion project

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000154  

   Lemaitre, Andrea K; Miller, Joshua D; Stoler, Justin (September 2023, PLOS Water)

   Rivera-Salazar, Diego (Ed.)

   Traditional water indicators primarily focus on water quantity and quality, but emergent research demonstrates that measurement of lived experiences with water availability, accessibility, and use is important for understanding how household water insecurity impacts health and well-being. Few empirical studies have explored which household water insecurity experiences are most salient, or their potential causes, in Latin American cities. We analyzed data from 266 households in a low-income settlement of Cartagena, Colombia, to identify correlates and perceived determinants of water insecurity. The most prevalent household water insecurity experiences were water supply interruptions (96%), water worry (94%), and anger about the water situation (90%). Unexpected water interruptions and use of non-piped primary drinking water sources were associated with greater household water insecurity scores, water worry subscores, and hygiene subscores. Respondents perceived water issues in their community to be caused by deficiencies in gray infrastructure (49%), which included deficiencies in water distribution, treatment, or storage technologies. Social infrastructure (36%), including issues with political, economic, or administrative systems, was also cited as a barrier to water security. We did not detect significant relationships between water insecurity scores and the attribution of these problems to gray or social infrastructure, but there may be relationships between these factors and duration of residency and using a non-piped water source. These findings underscore the importance of socio-political factors and community engagement for improving urban water insecurity through slum-upgrade projects. 

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4. Raw Data: Impact of Infrastructure Fluxes and Proximate Soil on Urban Hydrology

   https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.cfdb669b97634851980a0314dcdcc7d9  

   Islam, Imran; Zhang, Kun (April 2025, CUAHSI HydroShare)

   This data is the outcome of a research study titled as "Variations of Urban Water Balances Considering Subsurface Sewer Fluxes: A Hydrologic Modeling Study" which is currently in preparation. The study investigates the overlooked yet critical interactions between urban stormwater infiltration, subsurface soils, and buried sewer infrastructure. Using HYDRUS-2D, a series of simulations were conducted to evaluate how sewer-related water fluxes — specifically inflow and infiltration (I&I) and exfiltration—respond to variations in soil texture, groundwater table depth, pipe defect size, and trench backfill material. The analysis demonstrated that soil texture and groundwater depth significantly influence water partitioning. Fine-textured soils led to increased surface runoff and evapotranspiration, while limiting groundwater interactions and I&I. In contrast, shallow groundwater conditions significantly elevated I&I, with minimal impact on surface processes. Larger pipe defects further intensified both I&I and exfiltration. A statistical feature importance analysis reinforced the influence of groundwater depth and pipe integrity. The findings highlight the necessity of incorporating detailed subsurface interactions into urban hydrologic modeling to better inform infrastructure design and management. 

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5. The sanitary sewer unit hydrograph model: A comprehensive tool for wastewater flow modeling and inflow-infiltration simulations

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2023.120997  

   Perez, Gabriel; Gomez-Velez, Jesus D; Grant, Stanley B (February 2024, Water Research)

   Sanitary sewer systems are critical urban water infrastructure that protect both human and environmental health. Their design, operation, and monitoring require novel modeling techniques that capture dominant processes while allowing for computationally efficient simulations. Open water flow in sewers and rivers are intrinsically similar processes. With this in mind, we formulated a new parsimonious model inspired by the Width Function Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (WFIUH) approach, widely used to predict rainfallrunoff relationships in watersheds, to a sanitary sewer system consisting of nearly 10,000 sewer conduits and 120,000 residential and commercial sewage connections in Northern Virginia, U.S.A. Model predictions for the three primary components of sanitary flow, including Base Wastewater Flow (BWF), Groundwater Infiltration (GWI), and Runoff Derived Infiltration and Inflow (RDII), compare favorably with the more computationally demanding industry-standard Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). This novel application of the WFIUH modeling framework should support a number of critical water quality endpoints, including (i) sewer hydrograph separation through the quantification of BWF, GWI, and RDII outflows, (ii) evaluation of the impact of new urban developments on sewage flow dynamics, (iii) monitoring and mitigation of sanitary sewer overflows, and (iv) design and interpretation of wastewater surveillance studies. 

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